Alaskanomics: Why Its Different Up There

Writing in Time magazine, Michael Kinsley defines the unique character of Alaska's economy and relationship to the Federal government:

"......Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 21/2 times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska's government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it. Although Palin, like McCain, talks about liberating ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, there is no evidence that being dependent on Alaskan oil would be any more pleasant to the pocketbook.

Alaska is, in essence, an adjunct member of OPEC. It has four different taxes on oil, which produce more than 89% of the state's unrestricted revenue. On average, three-quarters of the value of a barrel of oil is taken by the state government before that oil is permitted to leave the state. Alaska residents each get a yearly check for about $2,000 from oil revenues, plus an additional $1,200 pushed through by Palin last year to take advantage of rising oil prices. Any sympathy the governor of Alaska expresses for folks in the lower 48 who are suffering from high gas prices or can't afford to heat their homes is strictly crocodile tears."

Alaska receives more dollars per resident than any other state from the Federal Treasury, and Palin's criticism of Barack Obama about earmarks therefore rings hollow. During her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, she employed a Washington lobbyist to bring in dollars amounting to $400 per resident of her community. And, as the mainstream media has now made quite clear, she did not oppose the infamous Bridge to Nowhere until after the Congress had barred the appropriation and the Bridge had become a political liability during her campaign for Governor.

- Richard Holcomb